Conceding & XP Rewards
I don't know what's going on this week, but I've encountered a streak of players conceding on me, very often early game, or mid game, when there's still a possibility of turning things around.
Sure, that's their right, but it's still very annoying when I'm invested in a game. But the biggest problem is how it negatively impacts the XP I earn from the time I invested in the game.
For example, if they played a couple more rounds, and I won, I could earn double the XP. But instead, they concede, depriving me of XP and wasting my time.
I literally had 5 people conceding in a row, a couple just because they didn't like their opening hand.
I believe one reason this is happening so frequently is because there's no negative consequence to conceding.
My suggestion is consider implementing a "conceding penalty" system, perhaps negative XP, or other fair trade off?
Obviously this could lead to players dragging out each turn, which has been a problem in there past.
So maybe implementing a timeout for players conceding too many times within the first few minutes of play.
I'm not a game designer, all I know is that I feel cheated of XP and that my time is being wasted, which is a little frustrating.
Otherwise loving the game. Keep it up!
Comments
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Players have always conceded and I haven't noticed any significant increase... but if you did notice, the reason could be that now with the new Build & Battle game mode, players have less time to spend and will avoid wasting time in matches where their chances to win are low.
That said, this game is a simulation of the actual physical TCG and it's used by many players to test decks for irl play, including all kinds of high level events. Also, the game is used for online tournaments like Limitless that reward real money in some instances… all this to say to all of you who think penalizing players that concede is a good idea... look, it may be frustrating for you to win fewer points or whatever, but conceding has been a core game feature used for decades, both irl and online.
When you have limited time in tournaments/events (or even in casual play), concession timing is actually critical and strategically decisive to get you a better overall result or even a win (for example in a timed BO3)... and this is a real skill, not something to be penalized for.
So no, there will never be penalties for conceding… and if your issue with it is getting fewer points, imagine if all those players who conceded stayed in the match and you ended up losing those games... appreciate that they gave you easy wins/points and if you want to play with fewer concessions go play more competitive matches in tournaments like Limitless.
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The main purpose of creating this topic is just in case other people have noticed a similar pattern. Maybe the series of concessions I encountered was just an unfortunate coincidence, in which case this topic is moot. But 5 in a row is just ridiculous, with a way higher rate per session this past week, has started to get very frustrating.
If this is a widespread issue, and not just a coincidence, I still think it would be worth considering some kind of penalty for players who repeatedly concede early game, or just because they didn't get an optional opening hand.
Online tournaments wouldn't be impacted in any way, as those rely on players sending direct requests/adding players to their friends list, and I'm not suggesting putting any restrictions on intentional match ups, just random match ups in the regular game.
On a personal note, if I just want to squeeze in a quick game or two on my break, it is an annoying waste of time to wait for a match up, do a coin toss, make decisions based on my opening hand, evolve, play items, allocate energy, and then the game abruptly ends just as I'm getting into the flow by the second round. And it keeps happening for some reason...
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Conceding is a game feature, and not just for online tournaments... in fact, it's a great strategic and time management feature to have.
Pokemon TCG clients have existed for decades… first the TCG Online, then TCG Live... and conceding was never penalized online nor irl ever... quite the opposite, it's a fundamental game mechanic.
If it's frustrating for you... well, many things are in any game. It's annoying playing when your opponent plays slower than you, or when you have a horrible starting hand, or bad draws, or bad coin flips, etc.
So again, conceding will never be penalized… it's a core part of a game with more than 20 years of history... you either embrace and accept it, or keep complaining, or move to another game. It won't ever be penalized tho
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